1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhesive preparation that is applied in the mouth and used upon administration of a medicine in the mouth. Further, the present invention relates to an oral adhesive sheet and more particularly to an oral adhesive sheet including a separator and a plurality of sections mounted on the separator, having a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer containing a medicine for adhering to the oral mucous membrane such as gingival mucous membrane so as to apply the medicine through the mucous membrane to improve handling property of the adhesive sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, various methods have been known for the administration of medicines in the mouth. For example, there have been known methods using solution, ointment, jelly, spray, troche, buccal tablet, sublingual tablet, etc., respectively.
Recently, as a preparation that has good adhesiveness even in an oral cavity mucous membrane wetted with moisture such as saliva, there has been proposed an oral adhesive preparation having a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer containing a medicine, a base (major component) of the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer comprising a water soluble or water swellable polymer. For example, a mucous membrane-adhering preparation having a substrate and a mucous membrane adhering pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on the substrate, containing an alginic acid ester and a medicine (JP-A-61-30516), an external film preparation containing hydroxypropyl cellulose as a major component and a pharmaceutical preparation (JP-A-62-63513), local anesthetic adhesive preparation for application to gingiva, having a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer comprising a water-soluble polymer such as polyvinylpyrrolidone and a water-insoluble or water-swellable polymeric substance such as polyvinyl acetate and a physiologically active component (JP-A-1-272521), an oral application substrate of a two-layer structure produced by casting and drying a liquid containing a polyacrylic acid salt, a carboxyvinyl polymer and polyvinyl alcohol (JP-A-5-310561), etc.
In the case of the conventional oral adhesive preparations containing water-soluble or water-swellable polymer as a basis (major component) of the adhesive layer, the water-soluble or water-swellable polymer absorbs the moisture present on the surface of adherend (surface of the mucous membrane in the oral cavity). This causes the surface of the adhesive layer to contact the surface of the adherend to effect adhesion.
As means for administering a medicine through the mucous membrane, there have been developed sheet-form adhesive preparation having good adhesion (pressure-sensitive adhesion) even at wetted site. Many attempts from the viewpoint of composition have been made on such a sheet-form adhesive preparation. For example, adhesive preparations are designed to use a water-soluble or water-swellable polymer as a basis for adhesive in order to impart adhesiveness to the wetted site.
On the other hand, as means for administering a medicine through skin, there have been developed and widely used various endermic pharmaceutical preparations using pressure-sensitive adhesives. Such endermic pharmaceutical preparations include various forms. As typical examples, mention is made of adhesive sheet-type adhesive preparations having a non-water-soluble pressure-sensitive adhesive layer containing a medicine and a support layer. These types of adhesive preparations have not been used as an oral adhesive preparation. This is because it has been recognized that the non-water-soluble pressure-sensitive adhesive layer generally shows no sufficient adhesion to an adherend that is wetted with moisture.